Masquerade
by manicmethod
Summary: The girl of shadows and the girl with the mask. Coming together, because she plays the saddest song. A song called Life. Jori
1. The Mask

She moved through the shadows with the grace of a cat. Even in her suffocating leather jacket, and her coal biker boots, she made not a sound. It would seem she had been formed from the darkness of the alley she was casually strolling through, not feeling a sliver of fear, if it were not for her snow-white complexion, and her shining green eyes.

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

Across the city, a young woman was preparing herself for the night ahead. She was ghosting her fingers across a keyboard, doubting, as she always did before her performances, whether or not she had sufficiently practised. She decided to neither practise nor stand around until André came in to tell her to take to the stage, opting instead to toy around with her instrument.

She drew a hand across the keys, pressing down on a low 'B' key. She fingered several other nearby keys, before André came in, pushing aside the curtain hiding the dressing room from the main room of the building.

"You got two more minutes till go time. You ready? You alright?" he asked, as he did every Friday night, as if, for some reason, there was a problem with being able to perform, but she hadn't mentioned prior. Heck, even if she did have a problem, she probably would have gone ahead anyway. Dedication was her top priority. It had been what had gotten her and André this far. Not that THIS was far exactly, but at least it was…something. And one day soon, one of them, or if they were lucky, both of them, would get their big break, and then they'd be out of the leaky little lack-luster backroom and into the spotlight. She could have something ridiculous. Like embroidered pyjamas or something. Or a pet lion. She'd think of something good.

"Yeah, I'm ready, I'm fine André, do you really have to ask?" she answered with a small smile. He chuckled.

"You're right, if there was something up, I'd know ALL about it," he stated, smiling. She slapped his arm playfully.

"Be good, or I'm cancelling tomorrow's movie night, and then I'll tell Cat it was your fault, and you're the reason she's not getting this week's dose of Bibble, so have fun dealing with that, amigo," she said with a tone of finality, before brushing past her best friend. She made her way over to a small table by the entrance to the stage, where a beautiful ivory mask sat upon a ragged red velvet pillow, which only served to make the mask seem more beautiful. It was plain, for the most part, but up the right cheek was painted a chain of roses and various other flowers in black, on the other cheek, an identical design, but in a glittering jade color. The mask did not cover her mouth. She slipped it on, fitting it perfectly into place on her prominent cheek-bones, and moved it about so that it rested comfortably.

"How do I look?" she asked, twirling to meet his gaze.

"Amazing, as always," he answered truthfully. In her black dress just long enough to cover her rear when she sat at the bench, knee-high boots laced all the way up and elbow-length fingerless black laced gloves she looked stunning. 'The final touch,' she thought, lifting up a black leather choker fashioned after a dog-collar, and fastening around her neck, just lose enough for her to breathe, 'can't go anywhere without that.'

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

The shadow-girl arrived into the bar; her entrance did not go un-noticed. Lustful gazes followed in her wake, she merely smirked as she strolled past them to the bartender. She ordered a drink, and some water to help break it down. She wanted to be able to remember what was coming. A man, the owner, took to the small stage by the far wall of the room. He pulled the microphone down to his own height, and cleared his throat.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, like every Friday, we have the beautiful, mysterious, masked Valentina!" A load roar of clapping and wolf-whistles ensued. The green-eyed girl's smirk only grew wider. Of course Valentina was beautiful; the pale girl knew her body better than anyone.

Once she heard the announcement, the masked musician strolled onto the stage, with all the grace and poise of a very deadly, very fluid animal. She turned to her audience, a good crowd tonight, she noted. Her eyes scanned the crowd, quickly, subtly, searching for the one person she knew would always be there. And there she was, by the bar, as she usually was at the start of the night. The masked woman allowed for a small smile to grace her lips. The dark girl smiled back, and mouthed to her: 'make it shine'. Valentina smiled wider, and nodded lightly. 'I always do,' she mouthed back.

The masked woman lowered herself onto the piano bench, brushing some imaginary dust of the keys. She cleared her throat and began singing, and playing 'Chasing Cars' by Snow Patrol*. When the first note slipped past her lips, she had everybody captivated.

When she finished the song, she moved onto the next, and the next, playing into the night, only taking a short break at about one in the morning. By three a.m., many of the customers had stumbled off home, with the exception of the jade-eyed girl. The pianist, turned to her peers for the first time since she began playing, only to see the black-haired girl had moved to the table closest to the stage.

"Any requests, ma'am?" Valentina questioned cheekily, eyebrow rising above the edge of her mask. The leather-clad woman only smirked in response. The bar lapsed into silence, the two women never breaking eye contact. Finally, the dark-haired girl opened her mouth.

"How about I get you a drink, the usual, and you play me a song."

"What song?"

"The usual," she answered curtly, before standing up and walking over to the bartender, who was getting ready to close up for the night, wiping down the counter, leaving glasses to dry. She ordered the drinks, a beer for herself, a cocktail for the pianist, and carried the drinks back over to the table. After seeing the woman was seated comfortably, the masked girl turned back to the keys and began to play.

There were no lyrics. But that made the song no less breathtaking. If there had been lyrics, it may even have taken from the beauty of the piece. It started on a low, miserable few notes, but uplifted swiftly, like light breaking through clouds. It continued like this for a few more minutes, before Valentina ended it with a flourish. She turned around to slow clapping from the pale girl.

She loved that song. It was so calming and inspiring, like, there was nothing wring with the world. Like, in spite of everything, there would be hope, and she shouldn't give up on something because it wasn't turning out well. Like her relationship with the masked woman.

"Valentina," she sighed under her breath.

_(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)_

_A Friday night, like any. Valentina was finishing up, on her last song. Suddenly, the front door to the bar was thrown open, allowing for flakes of snow to furiously burst in. The sudden noise made the young pianist stop, and turn around. There she was. Valentina couldn't breathe, her heart was beating too hard to be healthy, her mouth hung open in an astonished 'o' shape. In the still open doorway of the inn stood an angel. No, that couldn't be it. She was wearing to much black to be a Godsend. She was sure something anyway._

_With her mascara running down her face, she stormed over to the counter._

"_Gimme a Gin & Tonic. Actually, make it two," she practically screamed at the poor trainee bartender. He nodded quickly and got her the drinks. She downed the fist in one swig, the second followed soon after. She made a gesture for more, and once she got it, she made her way over to the table closest to the stage and sat down. All the while, the masked girl was staring at her. When she noticed this, the pale girl snapped at her._

"_What're you lookin' at, lil' miss Latinaaaa?" she asked, slurring the last word, "play me a song or somethin'," she demanded. It took a few minutes for the other girl to register the request. _

"_Um, alright. What kind of song are you in the mood for?"_

"_Ugh, my life's a pile of shit right now, play somethin' happy or whatever, y'know? Yer able to do that right?" The masked girl bobbed her head in response. "Good, so get playin'!"_

_The Latina turned to the piano again, and began to play something she'd never played for anyone, not even André. She loved playing it for the girl. It felt so right. After it, the black angel was stunned into silence. A few minutes passed, before she said something._

"_What's that called?"_

"_You like it? I wrote it myself. I call it 'Life.'"_

_(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)_

After the end of the song, the same song she had performed for the pale girl so many months ago, the tanned woman rose from the bench, stepped down off the stage, and joined the other for her drink. The mask was left on. A silent agreement between the two. The mask never came off. Ever. It kept them from getting hurt. But in spite of this, the green eyed girl proceeded to ask the same question she did every Friday.

"What's your name?"

"Valentina."

"No, really, what's your name?"

"I just told you."

"I meant your real name, not your stage name."

"Who says it isn't Valentina?"

"Because every single time I say it in bed, you never respond. You mumble something like 'glory' instead."

"I do not!"

"Yeah you do." The tanned girl giggled in response and took a drink.

"So Jade… after this you wanna…" Valentina trailed off, rubbing a hand slowly down the green-eyed girl's-Jade's- thigh.

"You know it."

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

The two girls burst in the door of the pale girl's apartment, kissing furiously, hands roaming freely. The girl with the mask dug her fingers into the other's hair. Jade responded by pulling her mouth away from her lover's and biting down next to the hollow of her throat. A single, primal thought ran through her head.

'Mine.'

She kicked the door shut, and pulled Valentina's hands away from her hair, before dragging her to the bedroom. They collapsed onto the black satin sheets, Jade underneath. Her hands brushed down the petite girl's sides, down to her hips, before moving them onto her back, moving them up, until she reached the zipper of the dress. She pulled it down slowly, hoping it wouldn't get stuck, and when it was fully down, it slid off easily.

While Valentina was kicking off the remains of her dress, Jade was removing her jacket. She tossed it somewhere on the floor, where the rest of their clothes would soon be. Now the smaller girl was left in her underwear and gloves (the shoes had been discarded at the door).

"That's not fair," she whispered into Jade's ear, before roughly yanking her shirt off. She smirked when she saw a lack of bra, "really? I'm that good you can't wait for the few seconds it takes for me to get your bra off?"

"Shut up tiny, get on with it."

Valentina laughed huskily.

"At least I got a nice ass, right?" Now Jade was smirking.

"I've seen nicer."

"'Course you have," the tanned girl said, still smirking. She quickly latched onto Jade's right breast, sucking, licking, and occasionally nipping, causing the girl beneath her to face waves of ecstasy. Valentina soon moved to give the other breast the same attention. While she was busy doing that, Jade grabbed her hips and started running her hands around them again, before going back up to her back again, and unclasping her bra. Valentina stopped her ministrations for a moment, to allow for her bra to be properly removed.

The second it was off, Jade flipped them, and started pawing the masked girl's assets. Valentina started moaning in pleasure.

"Mmm…Jade, keep…yeah…keep doing that," she gasped.

"So you don't want me to do this?" she asked with a wink, before brining her mouth to the lover's breast, and began the same routine she had experienced for herself only moments earlier.

Instead of idly laying there, allowing Jade to please her, Valentina moved to unbuckle her partner's belt, and then loosening her jeans. She managed to peel them off as her knees, before they got stuck.

"Here, let me help," Jade offered, pulling away from the other girl's chest in order to throw off her jeans and panties with the rest of their clothes. The Latina wasted no time in thrusting a finger into Jade's heat, who moaned in response. While she was distracted, Valentina flipped them again, so she was on top, and moved down to stick her head between Jade's legs. She proceeded to eat Jade out.

"Ah…yeah Val…keep it up, that's nice. Fuck!" she exclaimed, after Valentina ran her teeth over her clit. Valentina mumbled something Jade could only vaguely hear.

"There! You did it again! You said 'glory' or whatever, tell me what you said."

"Doesn't matter," she said, and went to continue. Instead, Jade clamped her legs shut.

"Tell me."

"You're the one losing out here, Jadey."

"I told you not to call me that."

"And I told you it didn't matter."

"Ugh, fine!" she sighed, opening her legs again.

They continued on, until Jade finally climaxed. Immediately after, Jade collapsed into sleep, and Valentina joined her, for a while. She made sure to be awake and gone before Jade came around.

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

The next morning, as always, Jade woke up alone. No sign Valentina had ever been there, except for a note by her head, resting on the pillow. It read:

'Thanks for last night, see you next Friday, -Val."

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

Valentina did not see Jade the next Friday.

* * *

**Well? What did you think? I made this a one-shot, because, well, I'm not sure if I wanna do a full blown story if nobody's interested. That was my first, kind-of lemon, so I'd like to know what you think. Too much? Too little? I was kinda nervous writing it, I felt so dirty XD. I just wanna point out, I don't even like Snow Patrol, OR the song, but it sounds really nice on the piano. I wasn't sure what to do for describing the song, and I don't think it's long enough. If anybody wants to help make it better, PM me your ideas. If you wanna hear the song I had in mind, look up on YouTube: Xion's theme piano arrangement, and click the first one. I love it.**

**Now, as for continuing this, like a said before, I don't wanna continue if nobody's reading. So, what I'm going to do, is this: I'm going to ask for 10 reviews. I know it's a lot (at least, for other fandoms it is, I'm not sure about the standard reviews of Victorious fics) but only then can I be absolutley certain people want it. And no double reviews, they won't count. Once I get the ten, I'll start writing the next chapter and post it on the next friday, and if I feel I still have enough interest, I'll start updating on weekly basis Every Friday. (see what I did there? ;))**

**See y'all on the flipside, get those reviews in.**

**~ V.S.**

**Somebody help me find the 'wring/wrong' error, I can't remember where it is...**


	2. Asleep

When Jade didn't show up, Valentina wasn't too worried. It had happened before. Sometimes Jade was sick. Maybe sometimes she was out with her friends. Valentina assumed she had friends. She'd never been told otherwise. Perhaps she had finally met somebody who was better for her than Valentina. Said musician visibly sagged whenever she thought of that possibility. But the dark beauty would always show up the next week.

So when she didn't show up for the second week in a row, well, the girl in the mask decided she should start worrying.

"André, you know that girl, Jade?" she questioned him on the way back to their shared apartment after her performance. It didn't last as long as it usually did, because she only really enjoyed playing for Jade.

"This is Jade, the girl I never hear the end of? Yeah, I think I know her, why?" André replied, a smile playing on his lips. Valentina giggled and elbowed him lightly. She sighed and her smile fell.

"I'm kind of worried about her. She always comes to the shows, but she hasn't come for like, two weeks or something."

"So?"

"So what if, you know, something bad happened to her?" She dropped her voice, and looked around, as though somebody, for whatever reason, may have been listening. André only sighed, and stopped in his tracks, causing his companion to come to a stop a few steps ahead. She turned, confused by his sudden stop. He closed the gap between them and gripped her shoulders, forcing her to look him in the eyes.

"Look, I know you care about her, no matter how much you pretend not to," he told her. She opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off, "don't deny it. I'm your best friend. If you can't tell me how you feel, who can you tell?" He had her there. "But I'm saying this for your own good. I don't want you to get hurt. I think you should stop sleeping with her. I mean, look at you. You could have anyone you want. Somebody who cares about you just as much as you care about them. Jade obviously doesn't, or she would have protested about this weekly one night thing you guys have going. If she cared, she would have asked to see your face long ago, and you, well, being you, would have done it in a heartbeat. You deserve better, Tori, and you know it," his arms dropped from her at that, and he continued on his way home, allowing his friend to follow or not. Valentina had no idea what to do. She was torn.

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

_Jade was late. She despised that little fact. Jade West was never late for anything. If she wasn't on time, she wasn't showing up at all. But for Valentina, she figured she could make an exception. She was walking briskly, no indignant running for her. She saved that for people who messed with her scissors. She wasn't far from her destination now anyway. She was halfway through the alleyway she always walked through, fearless. But something was different tonight. She felt something…staring at her. She felt the presence of another living thing in the alley. It felt dangerous, predator-like. She shook it off. Or tried to._

_It didn't help that an oddly familiar figure stepped out from the thin gap between two of the tenant buildings. The man let the knife slide into his hand from where it was concealed in his sleeve._

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

Tori was rudely shaken awake by André, who looked a bit stressed, his eyebrows scrunched together. She turned over and shoved one of her throw pillows in his face, trying to shut him up. A muffled groan of discontent sounded from the man, before he tossed away the offending object, and pulled Tori's duvet off.

"Hey!" she yelled.

"I had to get you up. Your dad's at the door, with his cop buddy, I don't think he's here to see how you're doing." Tori's jaw dropped.

"He wh-wait, WHAT? I didn't- I mean I don't, ugh, what did I do?" she stuttered, the effects of sleep still hadn't worn off.

"I dunno exactly, they wouldn't tell me. They just said they wanted to ask you a few things."

"Yes, but why ME?"

"The heck if I know. But you should get out there quick before they come in here." Tori groaned in annoyance.

"Yeah, tell them I'll be out in a sec, I need to change."

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

That was why now, both Tori and André were seated rather uncomfortably in their own apartment, holding identical mugs of coffee to the officers across from them, one of which happened to be her own father. It really wasn't the way she had wanted to spend her Saturday morning. There was total silence in the room, except for the occasional, awkward sipping of the hot beverages. Eventually, spoke up.

"Look, Tori, I um…this is odd, sitting like this, right? Just because I have my badge on doesn't mean I'm going to arrest you for something," he gave a nervous laugh, hoping to ease the tension.

"Then why are you here? Everything I've done recently has been perfectly legit, so…?" she let the question hang. Her father sighed and turned to his partner.

"Barry, can we just show her pictures now, we've been sitting here long enough," he said hopefully. The other man, Barry, nodded, and opened a folder he had been guarding on his lap for the last fifteen minutes. He rifled through it a bit before stopping, pulling out a sheet part-ways, pushing it back in, and continuing his search. He eventually seemed to find what he was looking for, and pulled out a few sheets. He looked at both Tori and André.

"These images may be a bit disturbing, but I need you to confirm the identity of the person in it, and if you know her. Especially you Miss Vega, I hear you have a, well, a 'unique' and 'unusual' relationship with her, so please," he started turning the photos over, "can you or can you not say, with utmost certainty, these are pictures of a Miss Jade West?"

Tori felt André cringe beside her, but she just gazed, numb, at the mutilated body of her Friday night paramour. She wasn't even sure if she was breathing or not. Seconds passed. André lightly shook Tori's shoulder, hoping to bring her back to Earth. She shook her head, as thought trying to rid herself of the overwhelming shock that was threatening to crush her. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to find her voice again. She exhaled a shaky breath.

"Yes, that's Jade, I'm sure of it." For the first time, Tori saw Jade in full natural light. She figured it would have made the pale girl look even more beautiful, but in her current state, well, perhaps not. The first photograph was of Jade's head and shoulders. Nothing too bad, but the start of a gash, just to the side of her armpit, could be seen, as well the dry blood that coated her lips and chin. Her eyes were shut. She could have been sleeping. Tori hoped she was.

Barry put that picture face-down on the small table that stood between the sofa and the two chairs that had been pulled around for the officers. The next photo was even more shocking, so much so that Tori wanted to excuse herself from the room for a moment. But that would just delay this. It was a full-body shot of Jade's naked body, in order to see the full extent of her injuries. Tori felt somewhat cheated. Who knew how many people had looked at this photo? That body belonged to her. But that thought soon passed when she finally registered what was wrong with Jade's body.

Her normally unblemished, angelic body was scarred. The gash that started at her left armpit went diagonally across her torso, and didn't stop until her right hip. Looking across from that, on her stomach, it looked as though somebody had attempted to tear her bellybutton out. The last thing Tori noticed were the bruises on the insides of her thighs.

"Oh my God," she whispered numbly, "what happened? Is she okay? You have to tell me!" she said, borderline hysterics. David tried to reach across the table and grab her hand, but she flinched away from him. He sighed in defeat.

"She's still alive, and she's stable, but she's on life support right now, in a coma. They don't know when or even if she will wake up. She has a head injury as well, you see. It's on the back though, so I suppose you can't see. Anyway, these photos were taken right after the doctors treated her, about two weeks ago. Most of them knife wounds, except behind her head, we suspect she was dropped suddenly and hit her head off the ground. She was probably dropped because our only witness happened to walk by, who also called an Ambulance. There is also evidence that she was raped," he paused and looked at his daughter and André, letting that sink in.

"Oh my God," she repeated. Her father nodded grimly. Barry now spoke up.

"I know this is hard for you, but we need to ask you a few questions, so we can find out who did this. This isn't an actual statement, in face we probably won't need one from you, we just want to know everything we can," Tori nodded, wordlessly. "Alright, here's the obvious one, where were you Friday sixth of October, at about twelve p.m.?"

"I was working."

"Have you any proof?"

"Yeah, I have my payslip in my room, let me go get it," she stood up to leave and made her way to her room. When she got there she shut the door. She didn't care if it looked suspicious. She leaned against the back of her door and slid down it, so her knees were pulled up to her chest. No tears fell. She didn't sob. She was past that now. She sat for a few minutes more, before deciding she would be of more use to Jade with that payslip. She rose and made her way over to her desk. She rummaged through the top drawer; she kept all her 'official' things there. Eventually she found the paper she was looking for, and exited her room.

Tori made her way back over to the sofa and she handed the slip to Barry. He studied it for a few moments, before nodding and asking if he could keep it, to which she replied yes. He opened the folder again and put it in. He launched back into his questions.

"What is your exact relationship with Miss West?"

Oh fuck.

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

Jade was fully aware of what was going on around her. It was almost like she was awake. But she couldn't move. She tried to open her eyes, but it was like they were sealed shut with glue. She wasn't sure how long she had been like this, but she was sure she was in hospital. That was the heart monitor, and the all too sterile scent. She got a few visitors. Her mother came most often, usually accompanied by her little brother. Her friends: Robbie, Beck, Ryder and Cat. As far as she could tell, her father had only come once and had left pretty quickly. Her step mom never came. Aunts, uncles and cousins sometimes came, but she knew it was only for appearances. Family was supposed to care. Hers cared about inheritance.

Jade would've scoffed if she could only mover her damn body. Being asleep yet awake really sucked. She was left with nothing but memories and questions. She usually thought about Valentina. In spite of her own predicament, Jade often worried about the masked woman. She wanted her to know she was okay, but couldn't.

Days passed, or so she hoped. Jade figured she might just off herself if she discovered these hours of crushing boredom were actually only minutes. Of course, there was the whole act of actually trying to die. She couldn't move. She wanted to watch the Scissoring. She wanted to capture more butterflies. She wanted a rabbit. She wanted to WAKE UP. Most of all, she wanted Valentina's hand on her own, asking her to wake up. Jade was certain she could wake up for the pianist.

Finally, she did.

* * *

**Oh God! I'm a horrible person! The one story I was actually going to stick with my update day, and I can't even manage that much! I'm so sorry :{(. It's just my mam was doing some tablequiz questions or something and she was on the computer like, all week, so I didn't get a chance to type anything. I was typing it yesterday, and I could have finished it, but i didn't want to rush it. This is the first story I've gotten such great feedback on, and in the first chapter no less! I didn't want to ruin it by rushing.**

**I hate this chapter. Its soooo boring and yucky. But it had to be done. Anyway, we found out who Valentina was, but I already made that pretty obvious. I'm sorry for any typo's or any other B/S. I got up really early this morning to finish this and I'm dead tired. Anyway, please tell me what you think. Reviews motivate people, even me.**

**Also: I will be away next week in...AMERICA! I've never been before, so I'm super excited. I'll be going on Friday though. So I'm going to try and update for Thursday, because I won't be back until next Sunday or something. But then I have the week off school, So I'll probably post on the Tuesday or something, and then again on FRIDAY!**

**Thanks to: GLllamalover, Azkadellio, silh3nthill, CherubimDI, I Tear Paper For Fun (I'm loving By Happenstance, keep it up :{D), Dragoness114 (I'm liking Burning Wings and Break You Down too), Kaiden13, Ridja, StarsandDesires, gleedegrassilover, TheFourPsInLife, TimelessReader and sandiw1875.**

**A SUPER SPECIAL AWESOME THANK YOU TO SIDERIAL! (betcha thought you weren't getting thanked) Your super long-ass review made my day! I tried to cut down on my long-winded sentences. Now I know what questions I need to answer, so that's awesome. Thanks again. **

**I need feedback on the direction of this story. Like it or not? If there's no yes/no's Imma keep going like this and then the story might be ruined :{O. I've never written mystery before :3. I had another way to go with this, but I don't think it was as good. If you don't like this, say something**

**~V.S. (what a terribly long A/N)**

***Edit- Fixed some typo's on both chapters. **

**P.S. How do you like the cover? I spent about an hour on it. Interesting fact, the person whose face is in it is Jade/Elizabeth Gillies**


	3. Mistakes

_Um...hello? I'm back. Sorry it took so long. Writer's block and everything. I had so much trouble starting this chapter, but once I got it started the rest was easy. I have a plan now, so I'm making an estimate this will be about 10-12 chapters long, give or take._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Tori was shifting uncomfortably in her seat, her brain furiously trying to come up with an acceptable answer to the officer's question. Explain her exact relationship with Jade? She had assumed from Barry's wording of 'a unique relationship 'they already knew, and although it would have been creepy for them to know, she was okay with it because it would have meant she didn't have to explain it, especially in front of her father. But how was she going to tell the very man that raised her, who had hopes and ambitions for her, a vision, that she was fuckbuddies with Jade? No thank you.

"Well you see…um…"She stuttered. André rubbed her back reassuringly. She turned to him and he gave her an encouraging smile. Tori returned the smile and inhaled deeply before trying again.

"We, meet up every Friday at the bar I work in. After my performance we usually get a few drinks, then go back to her place to, well, I think you know," she shifted again, hoping to any deity that was watching they wouldn't make her elaborate. With her luck however, it was hardly surprising when her father cleared her throat and said: "we need you to give us every detail possible. Even, well, the not-so-pleasant parts. I hope you understand."

No. No way in heck was she explaining this. Why was her father so damn stubborn? He wasn't still angry about what happened over three years ago was he?

Tori started grinding her teeth, a bad habit of hers she had developed when she was tense. A few minutes of silence passed before David Vega grew impatient.

"Look I hate to have to do this, but if you don't say something, I am obliged to bring you down to the station for official questioning. You may be branded a suspect, and even if it turns out you're innocent, it'll show up on your legal record. Then what are the chances of you getting out of that dead-end cellar and making something of yourself, Tori?" David was staring hard at his daughter, who only scoffed in response.

"You act as if you still care about me," she sneered at her father. He only sighed in exasperation, a hand over his face.

"Of course I care about you Tori. You're my daughter for Christ's sake! What kind of a father wouldn't?" Tori smirked, seeing a chance to take a dig at him.

"The kind that drove his precious daughter out of the house, simply because she got drunk one night, fucked a random guy, got knocked up and gave the kid away because she was being responsible and knew it was for the best."

Barry and André stared, slack-jawed at the pair. David was stunned to silence over his daughter's sudden outburst.

"Tori, if your mother and I knew you felt that way-"

"Don't you get it?" She snapped, "you and mom are the reason I feel this way. You guys, you didn't say anything, but I saw those looks. The ones that gave me the impression you were disgusted to be related to me in any way, let alone as my parents. When the opportunity to escape presented itself, I took it, and, as I recall, you were both none too upset about my leaving."

David opened his mouth to protest, but came up with nothing in his defence. He knew she was right. He and his wife had pushed their youngest daughter away, over a single mistake she had made, but had done everything she could to make it right. He had no excuse.

"Look, Tori, your mother and I both feel horrible about what we did, but now is not the time. What's important now is finding out what happened to your, well, what happened to . We need your cooperation on this. Can we have that much? Please?" He begged, causing Tori to hesitate. She hadn't seen her father so sincere in quite a while. She rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. After we go back to her place, we have sex. I leave after she falls asleep. Don't ask me to go into any more detail because I won't."

David just nodded and signalled for Barry to start packing up.

"That's all we need for now. Thank you for your time," he announced, very formally. Tori got up to show them to the door. The polite thing to do, it was also a way of getting them to hurry out. She threw open the door and all but shoved the two men out. Her father paused in the threshold, telling Barry to go on ahead.

"She's in the hospital right now, on life support as you may have guessed. Her father has stated he's willing to fund the machine for three months. After that, if she hasn't woken up…" he trailed off for a moment, then nodded, mostly to himself, and went after his partner.

* * *

Tori had long since given up hope for anything. Her dreams, a normal relationship with her parents, maybe even a steady relationship. For this reason, she hated hospitals. They were places of false hopes and crushed dreams, reminding her all too well of her own failures. The last time she was here, it was as a patient. The reason being labour. Quite possibly the most excruciatingly painful experience she had ever had and dared not imagine how much worse it would have been if not for the 'spinal tap' thing. She forgot the proper name for it. She only remembered spinal tap from Juno. At least Juno had made her choice out of love. Or something like that.

She was currently only half-aware of her surroundings. Lost in thought and automatically following the signs that pointed to reception area. Once she realized she had passed it about five times already, she stopped on her sixth, the woman at the desk giving her a strange look as Tori strode over to her.

"I'm here to see Jade West," she said. It sounded more like a question. The woman turned to her computer screen for a moment and clicked a few times.

"B-7." The receptionist informed her in a clipped tone.

"Right. Um…thanks." Tori turned away from the desk and pressed the call button for the elevator on the wall. When the doors slid apart she stood aside to let an oddly familiar head of hair past her.

"Cat?" She exclaimed, doing a double take. The red-head stopped in her tracks.

"Oh hi Tori I didn't see you there!" Cat said giggling. Tori smiled at her friend.

"So, what are you doing here anyway?" Tori asked, forgetting about the elevator.

"I was visiting my friend, she's in a coma and no matter how much noise I make she won't wake up, I don't know what to do. I was going home to get the special whistle we use to make my brother stop doing things he shouldn't be doing. Like sleeping too much. Bye Tori!" Cat abruptly walked off, leaving Tori having to call for the elevator again. When it arrived this time, she quickly stepped in and pushed the button for floor seven.

She looked at her watch briefly. It was four o'clock, visiting hours ended at six. She would have no excuse for not seeing Jade. Once the doors slid open, she made her way to the door of room B. It was closed, and there was no window into the room, so she wouldn't be able to see inside, prepare herself for a possible confrontation.

She stood outside for a whole five minutes. She considered running off to the bathroom and hiding for two hours. Or simply running downstairs and pretending she got lost. All these things and more ran through her head, but before she could put any of them into action, the door opened and a pale, middle-aged woman with sandy blonde hair tried to exit the room. She glanced at Tori, her eyes broken and red, before closing the door behind her and walking down the hall. Tori had a brief glimpse into the room and knew there was nobody else in it. It was now or never.

Steeling herself, she pushed the door handle down and entered the room. It was plain, white and blue. A television Jade would have no use for sat in the corner. A few chairs for visitors. The bed was in the middle of the far wall of the room, surrounded by machines. It seemed at though they were sentries, protecting a treasure. A Jade. There she was, hair sharply contrasting against the white sheets, the general pale tones of the room. Her face on the other hand blended right in, so that at a glance, she would have seemed to be a head of dismembered hair only. A chair was pulled up beside the bed, sheets slightly crumpled from where somebody may have been resting their head.

Tori walked slowly over to the other occupant of the room, until she was standing over her head. As she suspected, Jade looked even more beautiful in the natural light coming through the window. She lightly trailed her index and middle fingers over Jade's forehead, gently brushing flyaway strands of hair back. She removed her hand and sat down. She linked her fingers through the pale girl's, noticing how cold her hand was, despite the warm temperature of the room. Against the white, Tori's own skin looked even darker. She never thought she would ever get to have a moment like this, with anybody, forget the goddess before her. Of course, she could lose all this in three months unless Jade woke up.

Tori sighed, and her handbag seemed to weigh a hundred more pounds as she recalled what she had thrown in there hastily. She pulled the bag up on her lap and rooted through it until her fingers brushed against polished wood. She pulled out the box and opened it up. Resting on the red velvet was Valentina's mask. Tori smiled sadly and regretted her own cowardice at not revealing herself to Jade. She may not get the chance now. She shat for a while, thinking about what could have been for them. Jade was special, she knew that much. Tori had had one-night stands before. What she and Jade had diverged from the normal protocol. But who knows? Maybe they wouldn't have gone anywhere-

Jade's hand twitched. Tori gasped and let herself hope-just for a second-Jade had reacted to her. But then she stamped those feelings out. She had given up on hope long ago, and she had no intention of letting Jade, however special she was, change that. Well, she tried not to, but Tori couldn't help but notice that when she gasped, well, Jade twitched again. She couldn't stop the hope that flooded into her. It felt like a dam breaking in her chest over land in desperate need of water. A crazy idea came to her.

Tori quickly slipped the mask over her face, making sure it was firmly in place. She cleared her throat and decided on what she'd sing a few lines from.

"Grew up in a small town

and when the rain would fall down

I'd just stare out my window.

Dreaming of what could be

and if I'd end up happy

I would pray…" she trailed off when she felt something squeezing her hand. Her eyes travelled upwards until they met deep green.

* * *

Song at the end is Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson. I hate putting songs in stories, but I needed something nice to put there, so whatever...

My username changed to be the same as my Tumblr name. I think I've updated my Tumblr more times in the past week than I've updated all my stories in two years, so follow me for faster updates about things.

This was sort-of a character backstory development/filler thing and not much Jori at all. Sorry about that.

My A/N is shorter than usual because I'm so tired right now.

R+R...or something...


	4. Walls

**Oh. Hello. You're still here are you? I lost my USB for a while there and I got addicted to tumblr (still am) so I haven't been writing much. Sorry about that. Here's a new chapter to make it up to you and everything...**

* * *

For the first time since she met Jade, Tori was able to clearly see those vibrant eyes, un-shadowed by the blanket of darkness night-time brought on. They were breathtaking, not just because of their colour, but because of what was within them. So many emotions and experiences were clashing for a chance to be seen by the world. However all these emotions, happiness, sadness, joy, sorrow were hidden behind an iron wall of anger. All of this, Tori gathered in a fraction of a second. Her train of thought was broken by a scratchy voice.

"It's about time you showed up. I thought you'd never get here," Jade smirked at her. Tori gave the slightest flicker of a smile.

"Yeah, sorry about that, traffic was awful."

"You drive?"

"Gosh no. I'd mow everyone over and cause the biggest road disaster in the history of America." That caused Jade to chuckle, before she began coughing from the dryness in her throat. Tori quickly poured her a glass of water from the jug beside the hospital bed. When Jade's coughing fit settled, she took the cup from Tori graciously.

"Cheers, Val," she mocked a toast before chugging it down. Tori frowned in con fusion.

"Val?"

"Valentina's a bit of a mouthful. You don't mind do you? I really don't care anyway, I'm calling you Val.," Tori nodded slowly, only remembering now that she had her mask on. She unconsciously began rubbing the edge of it, just where it met her right cheek. Jade reached up to grab Tori's hand, pulled it away from her face and interlocking their fingers. They let their arms drop so their elbows rested on the edge of the mattress. There was silence for a short while, they simply enjoyed the sensation of each other before Tori spoke up.

"I should probably tell the doctor you're awake," She whispered. Jade didn't respond, she just started staring at Tori's face as though it were a puzzle she couldn't solve. The tanned girl thought for a moment Jade hadn't heard her and she repeated herself. This time Jade replied.

"Take it off."

It wasn't a question or request. A simple demand that the pale girl had made a dozen times before, albeit under much different circumstances. The abruptness of it all made Tori hesitate for a moment.

"What?"

"The mask, take it off. I want to see your face for once." The thought of finally allowing Jade to see her face scared Tori. The fact that Jade wanted to see her face scared her more. The young latina knew if she did it would be like a commitment of some sort. She knew they would start to get attached to if she removed that boundary she had set for them. She knew it was dangerous and it terrified her.

"N-no," she stuttered out.

"Why not? I'm sick, you have to do what I say," Jade argued childishly.

"I'm scared," Tori admitted. Jade scoffed.

"Of what? Me? I'm not going to hurt you Val, you know that. If I had wanted to hurt you I've had plenty of chances to do that. Why would I wait until I'm bedridden to do so?"

"I'm just scared of what it entails. I don't like letting people in. With this mask on, I feel safe, you know?" Jade only stared dumbly at her.

"Val, you let me into your fucking pants! I don't get what the big deal is about peeling a bit of plaster off your face," she half-shouted, temper flaring and voice straining. Tori in turn became angry and snapped back.

"You don't know what I've been through Jade. I lost all respect for my body a long time ago, but my face, my identity, it's the only thing I have left to give!" Jade was offended by the confession.

"You let me have your body because you didn't care about it? Not because you…felt anything towards me?" Jade asked, her voice cracking slightly.

"No. You were nothing more to me than sex. I'm sorry if you got the impression there was something more. I'm not ready to let people in yet." An awkward silence enveloped the room. Jade gestured for another drink of water and Tori complied. When she had finished her second glass Jade coughed once more.

"Do you have any gum? I have a bad taste in my mouth." Although Jade didn't outright say it, Tori sensed the double meaning in her words. She rummaged through her bag for a second and pulled out a stick of JuicyFruit.

"Thanks," Jade said, accepting it. She glanced at the clock on the far wall, "It's getting late, you probably have somewhere you'd rather be." Tori nodded, feeling slightly guilty. As she stood however, the door burst open and the bubbly redhead who was all too familiar to both occupants of the room bounded in.

"Hi Jade- hey you're awake! Aww! And I went all the way home for nothing! Who?" She paused, finally noticing the masked girl's presence, "Oh hey there Tori, I didn't know you knew Jade! But, why have you got your mask on?" Both girls were shell shocked that they had this connection the whole time they never knew about.

"C-Cat! I didn't know your friend was Jade," Tori said at the same time as Jade yelling,

"Tori?" Said girl turned to Jade reflexively.

"I um, I have to go," Tori rose abruptly once again and almost shoved Cat over on her way out the door.

The moment Tori set foot outside the hospital she called up the one person she could depend on for something like this.

"André, The Gallows, NOW."

* * *

_The pale woman was left in the room with her friend, the sound of the door slamming reverberated still. Cat made her way over to the bedside and took the seat that had been previously occupied by a certain brunette._

"_Cat, you never told you that you knew Valentina."_

"_Her name is Tori."_

"_It's the same thing."_

"_It really isn't, not to her anyway…"_

* * *

By nine o'clock Tori was already shit-faced drunk. Drink after drink had been thrown back like water and her purse was starting to run dry. André sat beside her at the bar, rubbing her back. He had nothing to drink since he planned on driving them home.

The Gallows public house was situated in a bad part of town. André was anxious to leave soon, before his car was suspect to theft. Tori showed no signs of slowing down. She had long since cried herself out and explained- somewhat-the events of the previous few hours to her companion. He had comforted her, or at least tried to, but he had seen her this way before. He knew it was best to let her get this out of her system sooner rather than later or it would end up blowing up in his face.

However when she had started asking the expenses be put on her tab, André decided it was about time they leave. He handed Tori her jacket and she pulled it on with a small smile of thanks. It was only minimal protection against the bite of the winter air. They arrived home and André had to shake Tori awake as she had dozed off on the way. When they finally made it upstairs, Tori immediately passed out on the couch, into a fitful sleep.

* * *

_Tori was standing on a cliff that overlooked the beach she was always taken to as a child. The wind was howling, and everything has that surreal quality that was a dead giveaway of a dream. The sky was overcast, an almost greenish-grey quality. In spite of the conditions, the odd colour comforted her. It felt familiar and safe._

_The long stiff grass was scratching her legs and the small bit of sand that had gathered coated her bare feet. She noted her attire, a loose white summer dress and Valentina's mask over her face. Her hair was down, the wind pulling it and twisting it into knots. _

_She looked behind her when she felt a presence. It was Jade. All that she wore was a dress similar in fashion to Tori's own, but black. Her face was covered by a mask. A replica of Valentina's._

_As Tori watched, Jade reached up and pulled the mask off, crushing it to nothing in her hand. She walked up to Tori and tried to pull her mask off in the same way, but it wouldn't move. Jade smiled knowingly, as if she had suspected it wouldn't come off. She pushed past the brunette and stood at the edge of the cliff looking down._

_"You could let me in," she said, hardly above a whisper, before she stepped off the edge. _

* * *

Tori jolted awake and fell off the couch.

"Shit! Who put that floor there?" she hollered. André walked into the room from his bedroom laughing.

"I knew that was gonna happen, I'm always tellin' you not to sleep there for a reason, but you never listen. It's your own fault."

"Shut up André, I'm too…ugh…for this," she stopped talking, taking in the smells around the room, "hey, did you buy me coffee?"

"I sure did, black, one sugar. Just how you like it," he said, making his way over to the kitchen counter where he'd left it. He picked it up and offered it to Tori, who in turn snatched it from the man and gulped it down greedily. Tori decided the floor was rather comfortable, as long as you weren't falling onto it. When she'd finished, she walked over to the kitchen area to dispose of her cup and to grab some painkillers for her head.

After a shower that Tori had only taken in the hope of relaxing a bit, she plopped down on the couch beside André.

"So I had this really freaky dream about Jade," She started. André nodded, feigning interest.

"What happened?" He asked absently, eyes glued to his PearPad.

"She died."

"Oh cool," he said, not really listening, "wait. WHAT?"

"She jumped off a cliff, I assume she died, I mean, she jumped off a cliff into rocks and stuff. So she probably died. I don't know, I didn't exactly check, I woke up before that."

"Think your subconscious is trin'a tell you something?"

"At this stage in my life I tend to ignore it. My normal conscious is all kinds of screwed up, so just imagine where listening to leftover brain junk is going to get me."

* * *

**I wanted to end this chapter on a slightly happier note since it was angsty. At least I hope it was angsty, I really don't know. Therefore, I need reviews to tell me. Not that I'm being a review whore or anything. Hope everyone had a good Christmas and New Year.**


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